Oven structure



Sept. 5, 1961 e. HOPKINS 7 2,998,816

OVEN STRUCTURE Filed April 50, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR LELAND e. HOPKINS BMW 3% ATTORNEY Sept. 5, 1961 L. cs. HOPKINS 2,998,816

OVEN STRUCTURE Filed April 30, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 i as 35 qs'li 34//.

I J 1 I I w i i 2;

INVENTOR LELAND G. HOPKINS BYW ATTORNEY Unite This invention relates to a detachable door for an oven or the like, and has for an object to provide improved apparatns of this type.

A further object of the invention is to facilitate the removal of a pivotally mounted door from an oven structure and the subsequent reassembly of the door on the oven.

In practising the invention, there is provided a pair of mounting mechanisms at either side of the door, near the bottom thereof, each such mechanism including a hinge link pivotally supported on the oven structure adjacent its lower end and being pivotally connected at its upper end to the forward end of a hinge blade Whose rearward end is biased upwardly and rearwardly by a tension spring, in the usual manner. The hinge link contains a pair of vertically spaced notches for reception of a pair of vertically spaced pins, carried by the oven door structure, and the forward end of the hinge blade is provided with an arcuate slot extending generally transversely of the upper notch and receiving the upper pin of the oven door. The arcuate slot is provided with an opening through the wall thereof at the entrance side of the notch, this opening providing for passage of the upper pin to and from the arcuate slot and the notch, and being so located that it aligns with the notch in the broil position only of the door. In all other positions of the door the upper pin is retained in its notch and in the arcuate slots by the crossing of the notch entrance by the slot wall. Thus, in the broil position of the door, both pins may be freely removed from their respective notches in the hinge link, whereby the entire door may be detached from the oven.

In reassembling the door on the mounting mechanism, the upper pin is placed on its notch in the hinge link and the lower pin, which is spring biased to latching position, is snapped into the lower notch of the hinge link. Upon movement of the door to any position other than broil, separation of the door from the oven structure is positively prevented as explained above.

The foregoing and other objects are effected by the invention as will be apparent from the following description and claims taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an oven constructed in accordance with the invention, the door being shown separated from the oven;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view, showing the lower left-hand corner of the oven, as viewed in FIG. 1, with the door mounting shown in side elevation, with the door in closed position;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2, but showing the door in fully open position;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIGS. 2 and 3, but showing the door in intermediate, or broil, position; and,

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, but showing the door in the position it would occupy during replacement or reassembly, after having been removed.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the invention is shown applied to an oven 10, which may be of the type found in home kitchens, either free standing or built into wall structure, and includes a door 11 which;

in FIG. 1, is shown disengaged from the oven. This door is movable between a position where it closes the Patented Sept. 5, 1961;

2 oven opening and another position where it provides a horizontal shelf below the oven opening.

The door inner panel or wall is provided with a pair of vertically extending slots 12 near the side edges thereof, these slots accommodating portions of mounting mechanisms 13-, carried by the oven structure at either side of the access opening to the oven.

The door structure includes an inner frame having vertical members 14 disposed slightly inwardly of the slots 12 and carrying horizontally disposed fixed pins 16 extending across the slots 12. A resilient latch bar 17 extends transversely of the oven structure, near the bottom thereof, and has terminal portions 18 extending through slots in the vertical members 14 of the door inner frame, and projecting across the slots '12 to function as movable latch pins. The central portion of the latch bar 17 is deflected downwardly relative to the terminal portions 18 thereof and held in this deflected position by engagement in a downwardly opening notch provided in an anchoring bracket 19, secured to the front wall panel of the door. It will be apparent that, due to the deflection of the latch bar 17, the terminal portions or latch pins 18 thereof are biased downwardly in the slots of the vertical members 14 of the door inner frame.

The mounting mechanisms 13 are identical except that one is right-hand and the other left-hand and consequently only one will be described hereinafter.

Each mounting mechanism includes a supporting arm 21 projecting through the front wall of the oven structure and fixedly secured to a support bracket 22, of U:- shape in cross section, the supporting arm 21 having a forwardly-extending portion projecting outwardly from the oven front wall structure. The U-shaped support bracket 22 is secured by suitable means, as at 23, to the rear surface of the oven front wall.

A pin 24 pivotally connects a hinge link 25 to the oven structure at its lower end. This hinge link 25 has apivotal connection near its upper end, as at 2'6, with the forward end of a hinge blade 27 which projects through an opening in the oven front Wall and whose rearwardly-extending portion is biased rearwardly and upwardly by the usual tension spring (FIGS. 2 and 3).

The hinge link 25 is provided, in its upper end, with an upwardly opening notch 28 for reception of the appropriate fixed pin 16, carried by the door 11. The hinge link also has an upwardly opening notch 29 in its forward edge, near the lower end thereof, this notch receiving the appropriate latch pin 18 at the end of the latch bar 17.

The forwardly-extending terminal portion of the hinge blade 27, which overlaps the upper end of the hinge link 24, is provided with an arcuate slot 31, the center of whose arc is at the center of the pivot pin 26. This arcuate slot is so positioned that the fixed pin 16 of the door, when seated in the vertically opening notch 28 of the hinge link 25, is also positioned within the arcuate slot 31, and this slot is of such length that when the door is in the closed position, shown in FIG. 2, the pin 16 is at the upper end of the arcuate slot, and when the door is in the fully opened position, shown in FIG. 3, the pin is at the lower end of the arcuate slot 31. This slot 31 is provided with an opening 32 through the outer wall thereof, so located that it is aligned with the upwardly-opening notch 28 in only one position of the oven door. In the construction herein illustrated this position corresponds generally to what is known as the broil position, in which the door is approximately onequarter, or twenty-two degrees ajar (FIG. 4).

Inasmuch as the opening 32 of the arcuate slot, and the notch 28, both of which receive the fixed pin 16, are aligned in only the broil position of the door, in all other positions of the door the pin 16 is firmly locked in the notch 28 and, since the movable latch pin 18 is biased toward the bottom of the door and hence against a seat in the bottom of the notch 18, the door is firmly fixed .on the hinge linkr For example, with the door closed, as in FIG. 2, removal of pin 16 from notch 28 is prevented by portion 30 of the slot wall. In any position where the door is farther open than in broil position, as in FIG. 3, the pin 16 is retained in notch 28 by portion 35 of the slot wall.

When it is desired to disassemble the door from the oven structure, as, for example, when the housewife desires to stand closely in front of the oven for cleaning the interior thereof, the door is moved to its broil position, shown in FIG. 4. The door is retained in the broil position in a manner previously known to the art, by the provision of a roller 33, mounted between the legs of the U-shaped support bracket 22 and engaging in an appropriately located notch 34, provided in the upper surface of the hinge arm 27. When the door is in the broil position, the fixed pin 16 may be removed from its seat in the notch 28 and arcuate slot 31 by a substantially vertical lifting action applied to the door, and indicated by arrows in FIG. 4. At the same time that the fixed pin 16 is moved generally vertically out of its notch 28, the lower latch pin 18 will move upwardly and forwardly out of its notch 29, whereupon the door will be completely separated from the mounting mechanism.

In reassembling the door, the latter may be held in a generally vertical position while being lowered to reenter the fixed pin 16 in the vertically opening notch 28 and in the slot 31. To assist in obtaining entry of the pin in the notch, the upper end of the hinge link 24 is provided with a laterally projecting and forwardly inclined flat surface 34 which serves to guide the pin 16 to the entrance of the notch 28.

With the door supported in a vertical position by the seating of the fixed pins 16 in the notches 28, as shown in dot-dash lines in FIG. 5, the door may be pivoted about the pins 16 in clockwise direction, as indicated by the arrows in FIG. 5, whereupon the biased latch pins 18 will be moved rearwardly against the inclined cam surfaces 36 just below the entrances to the notches 29 and, by deflection of the latch bar 17, will slide upwardly on the cam surfaces 36 and then snap into seating engagement within the notches 29. Thereafter, the door may be moved fiom broil position to any other position, and in all such other positions will be securingly locked in place on the mounting mechanism, due to the action of the wall portions 30 or 35 of the arcuate slots in preventing removal of the pins 16 from the notches 28 and associated slots 31.

While the invention has been shown in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. An oven structure or the like having an access opening disposed in a substantially vertical plane, a door for said access opening, and means for detachably mounting said door for movement between a vertical position where the door closes the access opening and a horizontal position where the door provides a shelf below said access opening, said mounting means including a pair of hinge mechanisms, each of said hinge mechanisms comprising a hinge link, means pivotally supporting said link at one end portion thereof from the oven structure, a hinge blade connected at one end to the oven structure and pivotally joined, adjacent its other end, to the other end portion of said hinge link, a pin fixed to the door for support thereof, said link having a notch providing a seat for said pin, a second pin car ried by said door, said link having a second notch providing a seat for said second pin, and non-resilient means carried by said hinge blade for retaining the fixed pin in the notch in which it seats.

2. An oven structure or the like having an access opening disposed in a substantially vertical plane, a door for said access opening, and means for detachably mounting said door for movement between a vertical position where the door closes the access opening and a horizontal position where the door provides a shelf below said access opening, said door having an intermediate broil position in which it is slightly opened, said mounting means including a pair of binge mechanisms, each ofsaid hinge mechanisms comprising a hinge link, means pivotally supporting said link at one end portion thereof from the oven structure, a hinge blade connected at one end to the oven structure and pivotally joined adjacent the other end to the other end portion of said hinge link, a pin fixed to the door for support thereof, said link having a notch providing a seat for said pin, a second pin carried by said door and having limited movement relative thereto, said link having a second notch providing a seat for said movable pin, means biasing said movable pin against its seat, and rigid means carried by said hinge blade for retaining the fixed pin in its seat in all positions of the door except its broil position, said retaining means being inoperative in said broil position of the door, whereby the door may be detached from the mounting means when in said broil position.

3. An oven structure or the like having an access opening disposed in a substantially vertical plane, a door for said access opening, and means for detachably mounting said door for movement through a plurality of positions between a vertical position where the door closes the access opening and a horizontal position where the door provides a shelf below said access opening, said mounting means including a pair of hinge mechanisms, each of said hinge mechanisms comprising a hinge link, means pivotally supporting said link at one end portion thereof from the oven structure, a hinge blade pivotally, joined adjacent one end to the other end portion of said hinge link, a pin fixed to the door for support thereof, said link having a notch providing a seat for said pin, a second pin carried by said door and having limited movement relative thereto, said link having a second notch providing a seat for said movable pin at one limit of its movement, means biasing said movable pin against its seat, and inflexible means for preventing withdrawal of the fixed pin from the notch in which it seats, in all but one of the positions of the door.

4. An oven structure or the like having an access opening disposed in a substantially vertical plane, a door for said access opening, and means for detachably mounting said door for movement between a vertical position where the door closes the access opening and a horizontal position wherethe door provides a shelf below said .access opening, said door having an intermediate broil position in which it is slightly opened, said mounting means including a pair of hinge mechanisms, each of said hinge mechanisms comprising a hinge link, means pivotally supporting said link at the lower end portion thereof from the oven structure, a hinge blade pivotally joined atone end portion thereof to the other end portion of said hinge link, a pin fixed to the door for support thereof, said link having a notch in its said other end portionproviding a seat for said fixed pin, a second pin carried by said door, said link having a second notch providing a seat for said second pin, the hinge blade having an arcuate slot, said fixed pin being disposed in said slot and in its seat in all attached positions of the door, said slot having an opening thereto through a wall thereof for entry and removal of said fixed pin, said opening being aligned with the notch for said fixed pin in the broil position of the door, whereby, when in said broil position, the door may be detached from the mounting means by withdrawing the fixed pin from its seat in the link through the aligned opening and notch and simultaneously withdrawing the second pin from its seat in the second notch of the link, the opening in the arcuate slot being out of alignment with the notch for the fixed pin in all positions of the door other than broil, whereby the fixed pin is secured in said slot and said notch by a portion of the notch wall structure.

5. An oven structure or the like having an access opening, a door for said opening, and means for detachably mounting said door for movement between closed and open positions, said mounting means including a pair of hinge links, means pivotally supporting said links at one end portion thereof from the oven structure at opposite sides of said access opening, a pair of hinge blades at opposite sides of said access opening, each blade being connected at one end portion to the oven structure, means pivotally connecting the other end portion of each blade to the other end portion of the corresponding link, a pair of pins fixed to the door near opposite edges thereof, said hinge links each having a first notch providing a seat for one of said pins, and a resilient latch bar extending generally transversely of said door for coupling the latter to said hinge links, said hinge links having second notches providing seats for the terminal portions of said latch bar, said second notches being so disposed relative to the latch bar that the latter is stressed when its terminal portions are seated in said notches, whereby said terminal portions are biased against their seats, said first and second notches opening in the same general direction, and non-resilient means for preventing withdrawal of said fixed pins from said first notches.

6. An oven structure or the like having an access opening disposed in a substantially vertical plane, a door for said access opening, and means for detachably mounting said door for movement between a vertical position where the door closes the access opening and a horizontal position where the door provides a shelf below said access opening, said door having an intermediate broil position in which it is slightly opened, said mounting means including a pair of hinge mechanisms, said hinge mechanisms comprising a pair of hinge links, means pivotally supporting said links at the lower end portions thereof drom the oven structure, a hair of binge blades each pivotally joined at one end portion thereof to the other end portion of a hinge link, a pair of pins fixed to the door for support thereof, said links each having an upwardly opening notch in its said other end portion providing a seat for a fixed pin, a resilient latch bar extending generally transversely of said door for coupling the latter to the hinge links, each link having a second upwardly opening notch providing a seat for a terminal portion of the latch bar, each hinge blade having an arouate slot, said fixed pins being disposed in said slots and in their seats in the hinge links in all attached positions of the door, said slotshaving an opening thereto through a Wall thereof (for entry and removal of said fixed pins, said openings being aligned with the notches in the links which provide seats for said fixed pins in the broil position of the door, whereby, when in said broil position, the door may be detached Ilirom the mounting means by withdrawing the fixed pins from their seats in the links through the aligned openings and notches and simultaneously withdrawing the latch bar terminal portions from their seats in the second notches of said links, said door, when in any position other than broil, being secured against removal by Wall structure of said slots disposed between said fixed pins and the entrances to the associated notches in which said fixed pins are seated.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CURREGTION Patent N5. 2 9983316 v E September 5, 1961 Leland Go Hopkins 7 I It is hereby certified that error appears in johe above numbered patentrequiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 6, line 4, for "hair" read pair line 16, after "slots" insert each line 26,, for "said", first I occurrence read the Q E Signed and sealed this 6th day of March 1962,,

(SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST W. SWIDER DAVID L. LADD Attesting Officer I Commissioner of Patents 

